Reciprocating block



Aug. 25, 1953 BERKEPEIS RECIPROCATING BLOCK Filed Feb. 2, 1951 1N VENTOR Zulu; fieligaeas BY 4/4 7 Patented Aug. 25,1953

'Di EFJaCLE 'REGIBROCATING BLOCK Lukas Berkepeis, Arnhem, Netherlands, assignor to American Enka Corporation, EnkaJNJ'C -a corporation of Delaware Application February 2, 1951, Serial No. 208,990 In the Netherlands February 17, 1950 2 Claims.

This invention relates to traversing systems of thread winding machines, and more particularly to an improvement in the reciprocating block used in the thread traversing system.

In the winding of thread onto a tubular or conical member such as a bobbin, the thread is passed from a source of supply at a high velocity through a reciprocating traverse guide, and then onto the rotating bobbin with the result that the thread is Wound thereon in a series of helical coils. Usually the ratio of the rate of reciprocation of the traversing guide to the rate of revolution of th bobbin is maintained relatively high to give a compact and Well formed thread package that iS capable of withstanding subsequent handling 01 erations and from which the thread can be drawn off at high thread speeds without snagging or catching.

The traversing system employed in conjunction with such winding machines usually comprises a thread guide, a block in which the thread guide s mounted, a pair of traversing rails on which the block is adapted to reciprocate, and means for effecting the reciprocation of the block on the rails. Many systems to accomplish this reciprocation are known and used in the art.

The present invention is concerned primarily with an improvement in the reciprocating block per se. In practice, the design and up-keep of these blocks have been among the more important problems encountered in the Winding of threads, especially when using the high thread speeds now required. With these high thread speeds, the number of stokes of the reciprocating block may be as high as 200 or more per minute. Accordingly, this block is subjected to rather 'heavy punishment in operation, for each stroke entails two reversals of the reciprocating block.

At the present time, practically all reciprocating blocks are made from a hard metal, such as steel, or various alloys thereof. Efforts have been made to use blocks made from a light metal, which would thereby reduce the momentum of the block at the end of each stroke because of the smaller mass for a block of given configuration. Although the momentum problem is partially overcome in this manner, it has been found that the light metals themselves are less resistant to the wear incurred by the reciprocation, with the result that more frequent replacement becomes necessary and this is undesirable from an economic point of View.

According to the present invention, I have discovered that, surprisingly, the disadvantages of the prior art may be largely overcome by employ- 2 ing a reciprocating block that is fabricated from a synthetic linear polyamide, such as nylon,

Other objects and advantages of this invention will be more apparent from the following description, when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein:

Figure 1 is a schematic view of a typical traversing system, and

Figure 2 is a section of the reciprocating block taken at 22 of Figure 1.

Referring first to Figure 1, a running thread I ll passes over thread guide H and is collected on rotating bobbin l2 driven from a suitable source, not shown. Thread guide I! is fixed to the body of traversing block l3, which is adapted for horizontal reciprocation, as viewed in Figure 1, between steel traversing rails I4 and 15. Pin 16 is mounted on the underside of block I3 and is engaged by a driving mechanism schematically indicated at H, which effects a rapid reciprocating motion of the block [3 and thread guide I I.

Figure 2 shows the block I 3 in section which reciprocates between rails l4 and l 5, and integral pin [6 that reciprocates the block l3 and thread guide ll.

According to this invention, block I3 is made of a synthetic linear superpolyamide, such s polyamino caproic acid and the like, or preferably the condensation product of hexamethylene diamine and adipic acid, better known as ylon. Pin I6 is preferably made of hard steel.

I have found that reciprocating blocks made i this manner are greatly superior to those made of steel. Nylon reciprocating blocks made in accordance with the present invention, after a years experimental use in which the were run continually with no lubrication in comparison with regular steel reciprocating blocks that were carefully lubricated, showed no sign of wear, whereas the steel blocks showed wear after a w months. Vibration of the block, when made of nylon, was substantially reduced with the result that the thread package formation was substantially improved. The hammering noise usually associated with this apparatus was reduced by the use of the nylon reciprocating blocks to the point that it was no longer troublesome.

The manufacturing cost of the nylon reciprocating blocks of this invention is much lower than for the steel blocks. The nylon blocks can be made either by milling or injection molding and when made by the latter method, the pin i6 is positioned in the block at the initiation of the molding operation.

What is claimed is: References Cited in the file of this patent 1. traversing mechanism for thread windin UNITED STATES PATENTS machines whlch comprises a thread guide, a slidable synthetic linear superpolyamide block sup- Number N Date porting and fixed to said thread guide, a metal 5 113943363 Walte 23, 1914 pin integral with said block, and means acting on 1,491,305 D 6 a1 Apr. 22, 1924 said pin to rapidly reciprocate the block. 1,742,172 AtWOPd 1929 2. A traversing mechanism for thread winding 2,130,520 BOCKIU-S et p 1933 machines which comprises a thread guide, a 51 6- 2346986 Austin June 17, 1941 able nylon block supporting and fixed to said 10 OTHER REFERENCES thread guide, a metal pin integral with said block, and means acting on said pin to rapidly reciprocate the block.

Modern Plastics (Injection Molding of Nylon by Akin and Teagarden), Nov. 1943, pp. 115-119.

LUKAS BERKEPEIS. 

